Safety
by zillywhore
Summary: Carlos craves the safe feeling that Cecil brings him.


11:59 is the time displayed on my dashboard clock, it's been exactly 27 minutes that I have sat here in my car watching the blinking red light at the top of the radio tower. "Goodnight, Nightvale. Goodnight.", and I know those are the last words of Cecil's radio segment.  
Why was I here waiting for him?  
I had no idea, all I knew is every night I listened to his roughly 30 minute radio segment and his voice would wrap around me and make me feel safe even though I was so scared.  
Scared of what?  
Something else I did not know. Scared of a lot of things, I guess. Scared of this town where the clocks ran slowly and hooded figures may or may not exist, scared of the old lady who spoke to angels, and all the quiet empty eyed people, even scared of Cecil. However I could not stay away from the quirky radio host, because aside from his odd mannerisms he was the most human person I had met out here. He had light behind his eyes and emotion in his voice. He was almost hard to fear sometimes, like now, as he jogged surprised but excited toward my car. I roll down my window, "Hey Cecil. Why don't you come home with me?". All of this was extremely impulsive for me, a scientist who always thought rationally before doing. However I needed help. I keep forgetting important things, and seeing dark figures, and I'm growing weary and worried for my safety. I needed the strange almost comforting feeling that Cecil gave me. Though I was scared of him I was also not, and I have quickly learned to crave his soothing voice and strong cologne. "Oh, perfect perfect Carlos" he said "Yes.", and he crossed around to passenger seat and took his rightful spot.  
His blonde well styled hair was slightly disheveled from a night at the radio station and his glasses were resting on top of his head. He was dressed neatly and professional as always in a argyle sweater vest, with a nice dress shirt underneath, and some newly ironed dress pants. I could tell he had so much to say and he kept opening his mouth, changing his mind, then closing it again. Even so as I drove us home we remained silent yet only half listening to the white noise coming out of the car speakers. I don't actually speak much at all until he's rested on the sofa in my temporary Nightvale home with a cup of hot tea in hand. I take a seat beside him and make small talk because the truth is I have no idea what to tell him, that I'm frightened, that nothing happening in this hellish town is right, I'll settle for small talk. We keep this up for hours, getting more and more comfortable, we drink cup after cup of coffee, we stay up most the night just talking. For the first time since I moved here I felt safe.  
When I finally brought up my concerns with Nightvale it was 3:49 in the morning and we had officially exhausted any other subject. I told him all my fears and went on for as long as I could until I panting with tears stinging my eyes and threatening to fall. Yet the whole time he listened and observed wordless. When all was said and done he took a deep breath, leaned in, and brushed his lips against mine. It wasn't a kiss, it was more of him seeking permission. I fit my mouth in perfect alignment with his and we pressed against each other. We started small, one kiss, two kiss, third longer kiss, a fourth even longer kiss, a lick of the lip, tongues dancing, a kiss on the jaw, the neck, hands running helplessly against hot feverish skin.  
"I'm scared." I whisper,  
"Don't be." He says.  
An unexplainable feeling washes over me, it was numbness but I also felt alive, it was a strange awareness of everything, I smelled rotten meat and tasted blood, I no longer felt the floor beneath me. I'm not sure when I started hysterically laughing but I was, and Cecil looked down on me with a huge grin on his face. The last thing I saw before I fell unconscious was Cecil but not, a glassy third eye peered at me from his forehead and twisted tattoos of all kinds of obscure things took up all the bare skin I could see. "Cecil", I try to say but nothing comes out.  
"Welcome to Nightvale."  
He says it the same way he starts his radio show, that familiar voice that once made me feel so safe,  
"Welcome to Nightvale."  
Those words played on repeat in my head as I lost all self awareness and drifted off into the dark.


End file.
